Chinese journalist highlights developments in Việt Nam-China relations

In the first nine months of this year, two-way trade between Việt Nam and China exceeded $120 billion – VNA Illustrative image

BEIJING – The relationship between Việt Nam and China has seen strong, stable and positive developments in the past time, especially since Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s visit to China in November 2022, said a Chinese journalist.

Wei Wei, head of the Vietnamese department under China’s central TV and radio station, told Việt Nam News Agency correspondents in Beijing that the common perceptions reached between the high-ranking leaders of the two countries had been comprehensively implemented over the past year.

He emphasised that General Secretary Trong was the first foreign leader to visit China after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). During the visit, he and his Chinese counterpart mapped out the development directions for Việt Nam-China relations.

2023 is the year marking 15 years of comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Việt Nam and China, with increasing exchanges at all levels.

In June, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính paid his first official visit to China in his position as the PM of Việt Nam, and attended the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC) in Tianjin. In October, President Võ Văn Thưởng attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, which was also his first multilateral external activity in his post.

According to the journalist, these visits are a continuation of regular exchanges and contacts between senior leaders of the two Parties and countries in recent years.

Regarding the bright spots in economic, trade and investment cooperation over the past time, Wei Wei said that the two countries had cooperated closely in economy and trade.

Currently, China is Việt Nam’s largest trading partner and Việt Nam is China’s sixth largest trading partner in the world, and the largest in ASEAN.

He cited data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade showing that in the first nine months of this year, two-way trade exceeded $120 billion, of which $42.2 billion came from Việt Nam’s exports.

In addition, investment cooperation still maintains growth momentum, with China approving large investments in Việt Nam this year, according to his observation. Chinese enterprises, especially major high-tech ones, are continuously increasing investment in fields matching Việt Nam’s needs and sustainable development strategy.

The journalist stated that accelerating the connection of regional development initiatives, and promoting cooperation in strategic areas such as connectivity, and emerging fields like e-commerce would be the next focus of bilateral collaboration, especially when China had said it was ready to continue expanding the import of high quality Vietnamese products that Chinese customers need. VNA/VNS